Well it has been over a week since my last blog. Work has been busy and I've been trying to keep my head above the water. Sometimes the it is calm before the storm and most of the times it is calm after the storm. lol!
Even business newspaper that report materialistic news have a column on spirituality. Wow! Doesn't that suprise you? Well at the end of the day or at the beginning of the day everybody wants a little ounce of reality check. Today's column started with the famous words of the Hindu saint Adi Shankara "Bhaja Govindam, Bhaja Govindam Muda Mathey" and highlighting the essence of the poem was an article on Para vidya and Apara vidya. Para vidya referes to spiritual education and Apara vidya education refers to the education that helps you chase worldly pursuits. Ovvayar said " Arul illarkku avvulagam illai, porul illarku ivvulugam illai"
From Adi Shankara to Aristotle to Ovvayarr (famous tamil poet) have all said that and have lived by it. We all need money to live in this world and we all need spirituality to live in the other world. Somethings don't change in life, we may get more mechanized but still human heart feels, and mind earns for peace at the end of the day.
While somethings at our cafeteria have changed. They've stopped making the fruit concoction and have stopped playing the 70's music over the FM radio. They have placed a new 29" TV in the cafeteria. We are sourrounded my monitors of all kind during the day at work and in the evening at home. Will we ever get bored of watching these monitors andlet our precious brains mutate?
Some other things have not changed around my city. I had written a blog on silk sarees couple of days back. Nalli the traditional silk merchant resorted to arrogant marketing with their latest bill board all over the town. Their competitor RMKV has innovated, they have made a silk saree with 56,400 different colors. It took 2 resources, 3 months and 50K to get this job done. They have bill boards and ad's in newspapers touting this acchievement. Last year they made the longest silk saree and found a place in the Guinness Book and this year they have another place for the palette of colors. Innovation and creativity scores more and goes a long way than arrogant marketing.
Let me come to the title, today is guru pournima day. Full moon falling on a thursday is very auspicious to start new ventures. For those of you starting new ventures, good luck! Astrologically Moon indicates a person mind, scriptures say "Chandra ma manso jatha: " Moon also indicates mother, mother land, ocean, fine arts. May our hearts and mind fill to the brim like the full moon in the sky.
hopefully, people would not become too materialistic like the westerners...but everytime i visit india, it is depressing to see the country becoming more commercialized and materialistic..i remember my sister's driver's comment..he was surprised that i did not have a cell phone after living in the u.s. for so many years and shocked that i did not bring a cell phone when i came to india for a visit...i appears among the middle classes and higher income classes one's success in life depends on one's possession of fancy things (i.e. car, house, TVs, cell phones etc..)
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